Phillies ride Luzardo's 12 K's and small-ball rally to sweep Mariners originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The ebbs and flows of a season have been a common theme for Rob Thomson.
For Phillies lefty Jesús Luzardo, in his first season in Philadelphia, ‘ebbs and flows’ might be an understatement.
The southpaw’s masterful outing Wednesday afternoon was the difference as the Phillies swept the Mariners with a 11-2 victory.
Luzardo entered the day with a 3.50 ERA in the month August after posting marks over 5.00 in each of the previous three months.
“Attack hitters. Trying not to be too fine, just go get them. Trust your stuff and power the ball through the zone,” Thomson said before the game when asked about the key to Luzardo sustaining success.
The southpaw looked like he was taking the message to heart. After running a 3-0 count to Randy Arozarena to open his outing, Luzardo battled back to record the out. He struck out Cal Raleigh before Julio Rodríguez golfed a 1-2 slider for his 25th homer. Still, Luzardo fanned the side in the first.
He struck out the side again in the second, giving him six punchouts for his first six outs. By the third, he had eight strikeouts among his first nine outs — becoming just the seventh Phillies pitcher since 1974 to do so.
When Luzardo notched his ninth strikeout in the fourth, freezing Eugenio Suárez, it marked the most strikeouts by Phillies starting pitching in a three-game series since 1901 with 31 K’s.
The Phillies’ offense gave him early support. Trea Turner extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first-inning triple, then scored on Kyle Schwarber’s sacrifice fly.
In the second, Harrison Bader singled and advanced to third on Suárez’s throwing error before Bryson Stott doubled him home to make it 2-1. Stott is hitting .308 with an .870 OPS with runners in scoring position.
“I’m just trying to take good at-bats and put the ball in play somewhere,” Stott said of his approach with runners on.
In the fourth, Max Kepler added on with his 13th homer of the season to right field, pushing the lead to 3-1.
Thomson had voiced confidence in Kepler before the game, noting, “I think Kepler’s swinging the bat pretty good.”
Luzardo’s outing came to an end when Thomson turned to veteran David Robertson for the seventh.
His final line: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 K
Coming into the start, Luzardo leaned on his fastball and sweeper — 35% fastballs and 28% sweepers. Against a righty-heavy Mariners lineup with plenty of swing-and-miss, he flipped the mix. The southpaw threw 43% sweepers and 35% fastballs, inducing 11 whiffs on the sweeper.
“My stuff felt great today. Obviously, a lot of sweepers and it really worked out,” Luzardo said on his outing. “We did some work in between [starts], just understanding my mechanics and trying to get a little more in front on certain pitches and I think that that helped the sweeper today, but just physically, I’ve been feeling really good.
Suárez, who has gotten off to a slow start with Seattle, greeted Robertson with a solo shot into the left-field seats to bring the Mariners within one, 3-2. It was the first run Robertson had allowed in his third stint with Philadelphia.
The Phillies turned to small ball in the seventh to break the game open. Brandon Marsh drew a leadoff walk and Bader was plunked, setting up Bryson Stott, who executed a hit-and-run to perfection with a single the other way that chased home Marsh. Stott then swiped second, putting two runners in scoring position for Trea Turner.
Turner chopped one back up the middle off Cole Young’s glove to bring in Bader for his fourth hit of the afternoon, giving him a Major League-leading 44 multi-hit games this season. After Turner stole second, Schwarber punched a two-run single through the right side and Bryce Harper followed with an RBI knock of his own.
“We can beat you a bunch of different ways,” Turner said on their identity as an offense. “We’re gonna have to walk, we’re gonna have to slug … and it makes it tough for those guys over there.”
By the end of the inning, the Phillies had strung together four straight singles, five runs and 17 total hits on the day, stretching their lead to 8-2.
In the eighth, José Alvarado came on … and so did the standing ovation.
“That was great,” Thomson said of the ovation. “I didn’t know how the fan base would react, but I think they understand that it was an honest mistake. And I really love the fact that they welcomed him back.”
“It’s something that makes me really happy,” Alvarado said through a team interpreter.
Making his first appearance since serving an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, the lefty worked a scoreless inning and struck out Raleigh to end the frame.
In the series, Raleigh — who has a league-leading 47 homers — was 1-for-12 with 8 strikeouts.
“I know he’s a really good hitter,” Thomson said of Raleigh. “I think we just kept him off balance. That’s really the key to him.”
In the bottom half of the eighth, Turner hit his way on again. This time, an RBI-infield single — his fifth hit of the game and tenth total hit against M’s pitching.
And it wouldn’t be an exciting series without a Schwarber roundtripper, right? The Phillies slugger drilled a two-run shot — his 45th of the season and the team’s 20th hit of the game — giving Philadelphia a dominating 11-2 advantage.
Joe Ross recorded the final three outs and the Phillies move to 74-53 on the year, notching their 40th victory at home.
1901 was the last time the Phillies had multiple games with 20+ hits twice in a three-game span.
Even with the victory and historic performances, the team is still feeling the absence of their ace, Zack Wheeler.
“He’s a key piece for us, a leader, he’s a father and a husband … so that comes first and foremost,” Luzardo said.
“We want to make sure that the person, Zack Wheeler, is okay,” Stott added. “We’re just going out there and playing our game … we’re thinking about him and he knows that.”
A sweep, now what?
The Phils will open another three-game set Friday at home against the Washington Nationals.
Coming off an off-day Thursday, Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.34 ERA) will make 16th start of the season.
Walker has fired at least six innings or more and allowed two or fewer runs in each of his past three starts. In his last start against Washington (Aug 16), he allowed just two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings.
The Nats have yet to announce a starter. First pitch will be at 6:45 p.m. ET.
